Heaven on Earth

Many Christians believe in a literal Heaven that is holy perfection—the opposite of a corrupt Earth filled with sin and misery. For the 17th century priest, Thomas Traherne, Heaven and Earth overlap. For Traherne, savoring life on Earth gives a foretaste of Heaven. After all, God is present in the created world even as God transcends that world. Traherne writes,

Your enjoyment of the world is never right till every morning you awake in heaven; see yourself in your Father’s palace; and look upon the skies, the earth, and the air as celestial joys: having such a reverend esteem of all, as if you were among the angels. You never enjoy the world aright till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens and crowned with the stars; and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world, and more than so, because men are in it who are every one sole heirs as well as you. Till you can sing and rejoice and delight in God, as misers do in gold, you never enjoy the world.

https://surprisedbytraherne.com/

~ submitted by Richard Russell